Search results
People also ask
How do weather apps work?
What should I get the Met Office weather app?
How does the BBC Weather app work?
Where do weather apps get their information?
What happens if I disable the BBC Weather app?
What data does a weather app and service use?
The Met Office weather app gives you our accurate, world-leading weather forecasts, throughout the UK and around the world, from 1 hour to 7 days ahead. You can watch our latest national...
- How the US Collects Weather Data
- How the Data Reaches Your Weather App
- Mixing it All Up
- The Best Tech Newsletter Around
Much of the raw weather data in the US comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA for short, which is a division of the federal government's Department of Commerce. The NOAA is tasked with maintaining coastal ecosystems, supporting marine commerce (like fisheries), and climate and weather research. Under the NOAA is the National Weather Service, or NWS, which provides weather, water, and climate data.
The NWS collects surface weather data with many Automated Surface Observing Systems, or ASOS. They are operated in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Defense (DoD) -- yes, this is a lot of acronyms. The stations continuously collect data about sky conditions, visibility, ambient temperature, pressure, obstructions to vision (like fog), wind speeds, and more. There are over 900 ASOS sites in the United States, mostly located at airports. The FAA has a map of all observation stations.
There are also some older data stations, called Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) units, that still make up some of the government's weather data. According to the NOAA, they "generally report at 20-minute intervals and, unlike ASOS, do not report special observations for rapidly changing weather conditions." Both types of weather stations can only detect weather directly above them, so ASOS data is usually augmented with human observations.
The NWS also collects data from oceans, lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water with a network of automated buoys. Weather balloons are also used twice a day at around 92 sites in the United States, which help predict forecasts and storms. On top of that, the NOAA owns and operates 11 satellites -- five in geostationary orbit, five that orbit the Earth's poles, and one placed further out in the Sun-Earth Lagrange point L1. There are also six more satellites that are operated by NOAA but are owned by other agencies, such as the Air Force and NASA.
The wide-reaching network of ground stations, buoys, balloons, and satellites give the US government more than enough data to report active weather conditions and forecasts. You can view the data directly from weather.gov, which shows current conditions, forecasts, radar maps, and even technical data for any location in the United States. Pro tip: that's a great site for checking the weather that won't bombard you with push notification requests and unrelated news stories.
Importantly, most of the NOAA's data is public, and the data is shared directly with companies and other organizations through the NOAA Open Data Dissemination (NODD) Program, including Amazon, Google, IBM, and Microsoft. As a result, much of the weather reporting in the United States, especially long-term forecasts, is based on NOAA data to some extent.
Many weather apps and services in the US don't connect directly to the NOAA's data -- they use an API from a third-party company, which might also be mixed with data from other agencies or private companies. For example, IBM Cloud is a popular global provider for weather data, which uses data from the NOAA and many other sources, plus additional processing from proprietary tools like a custom-built supercomputer.
The Weather Channel and Weather Underground are both owned by IBM and primarily use weather info from IBM Cloud. The APIs provided by IBM, The Weather Channel, and Weather Underground are in turn used by other apps and services. Google uses The Weather Channel for weather information. MSN Weather, which appears in Bing, Windows, and other Microsoft services, uses data primarily from a company called Foreca, which in turn merges data from 50 different sources (including NOAA and JPL in the United States).
That's a lot of information to take in, so let's summarize. Weather apps get their information from data providers like IBM, Apple, Foreca, and others. Those providers sometimes do specialized processing to provide more accurate info, or mix in data from personal weather stations, but much of the raw information comes from government agencies like the NOAA. Those agencies also share data, resources, and expertise between each other.
So, where does your weather app get its information? The answer is... a lot of places! There are dozens of government agencies, companies, and connected groups working together to share and improve on each other's data. Several different apps might use the same data source for current conditions for a specific location -- for example, an automated station owned by the NOAA. Forecasts, radar maps, and other information is much more of a collaborative effort.
Recommended Articles
Features How to Turn Your iPhone Screen Black and White (And Why) Make your iPhone less distracting by removing all its color. Alexa Amazon Is Shutting Down the Echo Connect Customers were only given three weeks' notice. Hardware Does Angling Router Antennas Improve Your Wi-Fi? It's not just for looks. Audio How to Add More Inputs to an Audio Interface If you don't have enough mic preamps or instrument inputs, just add some. Cutting Edge What Are Gemini (Google Bard) Extensions? (And How to Use Them) Upgrade your Gemini use with extensions. Streaming YouTube TV Now Lets You Build a Sports Multiview Easily stream four games at once with Multiview.
Apr 29, 2024 · The BBC Weather app allows you to save up to 10 locations in your BBC account. This ensures that you can easily access relevant locations across all of your devices. Your locations will...
The app includes our UK rainfall interactive map for the last six hours of observations and the forecast for the next 24 hours. There is also an interactive National Severe Weather...
Weather apps give you instant forecasts wherever you are. But interpreting the information correctly can actually be quite tricky. BBC Weather presenter and meteorologist Tomasz...
- 3 min
Get all the weather information you need, including: - At-a-glance forecasts, so you can make decisions quickly. - Hourly data up to 14 days ahead (in UK locations and major international cities) - Sign in to your BBC account to save locations across your different devices.
The Met Office weather app gives you the most accurate world-leading global weather forecasts, with coverage from 1 hour to 7 days ahead.
